Addressing Kinship Caregivers' Ambivalence and Internalized Stigma to Improve Acceptance of Financial Assistance for Children in Foster Care.

This article examines the impact of a kin-specific training and support program called Caring For Our Own (CFOO) on reducing internal conflicts and finance-related stigma among kinship caregivers who provide care for children when reunification or adoption is not feasible. Using data from the Harvey Kinship Project in North Carolina, the study found that participation in CFOO significantly decreased caregivers' ambivalence and stigma about accepting financial assistance through the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program (KinGAP), whereas the standard foster parent training program (Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting, MAPP) did not produce such changes. Additionally, the virtual delivery of CFOO during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with greater reductions in stigma compared to in-person sessions, though further research is needed to confirm this finding. These results suggest that tailored, flexible training programs may help increase kin caregivers' utilization of financial support, with implications for policy and practice aimed at improving the well-being of children in kinship care.